Banish Air from Air

Award-winning guitarist Ben Walker has gathered an ensemble cast of collaborators for this, his second album. The dreamy opening title-track is a setting of Emily Dickinson's poem, with vocals by Sophie Jamieson. The album proceeds with a selection of songs featuring guest vocalists, including some big names in British folk like Nancy Kerr and Sam Lee. Interspersed among the songs are some delicate, meditative instrumentals – ‘Starlings,’ ‘Showers on Ascension Day’, ‘Northern Lights, ‘Kepler and Sol’ – all displaying Walker's breath-taking fingerstyle playing.

This is an album of contrasts, juxtaposing Wyndham Hill-style solo tracks with songs. On ‘Eggshells’, Walker swaps his acoustic for a deep, shimmering Duane Eddy electric sound. ‘Neptune’ uses a sample of the shipping forecast, judicious touches of electronica and a mellifluous riff before building into a string ensemble piece. For all its artistry, I wonder if the album's variety is a blessing or a curse. Banish Air from Air could be said to lack cohesion; with seven different guest vocalists and such an assortment of styles, it feels more like a compilation than the work of a single creative force.